PENSACOLA, Fla. -- A Pensacola elementary school crossing guard who has been trying to slow down speeders near an elementary school for a decade has finally found a solution -- a simple hair dryer.

Now everyone slows down approaching the school, and pleased local authorities said that using the radar gun look-alike to control traffic in a school zone appears to be perfectly legal.

Crossing guard Dale Rooks has made an adjustment here or there to the hair dryer, wrapping it with electrical tape.

However, drivers hit their brakes when they see it aimed at them.

"It's almost comical,'' Rooks said. "People are slowing down, raising their hands at me apologetically. It's amazing how well it works.''

Rooks got a visit at work recently from Pensacola Police Chief Jerry Potts, who wanted to try out the fake radar gun himself.

"The first car I held it up to, they slowed right down,'' Potts said. "It's original, it's unique, and I don't see any harm in it.''

Also pleased is John DeWitt, chairman of the Escambia County School Board.

Speeding is a problem near all of the county's schools, according to DeWitt. Whistles and signs reading "Slow Down'' used at several schools help, DeWitt said, but Rooks' hair dryer is perhaps the most effective solution so far.

"I congratulated him, and think it was one of the most innovative and creative ideas I've seen,'' said the school board chairman. "It's impossible for the police to be at every school every day and this works.''

DeWitt's official disclaimer, by contrast, sounded ineffective.

"This will never become a board policy,'' he said of Rooks' hair dryer, "but word is spreading and I just think it's brilliant.''

A city lawyer agreed.

"I can't think of any regulation or ordinance that he would be violating,'' said Pensacola Assistant Attorney Rusty Wells. "I think it's very innovative.''